Snowmobile Repair: 96 mach z carb, mikuni tm38, clutch side

Question
i have recently purchased a 1996 machz 780,as it turns out i got hosed,the pto side cylinder was badly scored prior to a recent engine rebuild,the rings are new but the piston is slightly beat up on the top,i have ordered a new cylinder (nikasil)my problem is that i thought i had best check the carbs because of the sloppiness of the engine work,i have a manual for the machine and it lists  the carb as being a tm38-152,the manual only shows a breakdown of a tm38-133 the jet sizes and location match up to the specs for the 152 but i am having troubles checking the float level,the manual says "do not turn the carb upside down,measure the float arm height when it just touches the needle valve without moving it" in the tm38-133 diagram there is no "retainer clip" on the needle valve, on my carb there is and it holds it to the float arm when the arm moves up and down, because of this clip the float arm is always touching the needle valve, the spec is 20mm and the arm seems to be at roughly 26mm,if i turn the carb upside down and check it, it is 20mm,,i wonder if someone hasnt already screwed with the floats,,the machine is hard on fuel which may or may not be entirely due the the bad cylinder,the compression of the cylinder was within 10psi of the other two,(115) compared to 125 cold

Answer
Hello Donnie,

 Sorry for the delay in my response. Your question never got emailed to me, so I just found here on the Allexperts database. Too bad you bought a lemon sled unknowingly. The sled is equipped with a Mikuni TM38-C152 carbs. As for jets, it uses #45 PILOT jets for the MAG and CENTER carb, and #40 for the PTO/CLUTCH side carb. It uses #380 MAIN jets for the MAG and CENTER and #370 PTO/CLUTCH side jet. As for the float check, it is possible someone has done some things to them improperly as you mentioned. To check the float height, you can flip the carbs upside down. I have been doing this for years. The main point is, to make sure you are depressing the spring loaded tip on the inlet needle. So, basically you will need to move the float arm up just until it the is pressure, but no enough pressure to cause the tip to become depressed. I hope I have helped you. Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck with the sled! --Arcticatman